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Dakota Territory Challenge
Black Hills, South Dakota
August 28 - Septmber 1, 2008 - Labor Day weekend
These photos contributed by Rod Pepper
Trip Report (below images) by Rod Pepper
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These photos contributed by Dewey Williams
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| Dakota Territory Challenge 2008 |
6 RC4W member families headed North to the Black Hills of South Dakota over the long Labor Day weekend for the 26th Annual Dakota Territory Challenge put on by the Black Hills 4 Wheelers. Representing Rough Country 4 Wheelers were John and Stephanie Stone and kids, Marlon and Christina Seals, Paul and Brenda Bickerton and their baby, George and Jennifer Brook, Dewey Williams and his fiancé Shannon, and Gwynn and myself
We arrived at Whispering Pines campground on Wednesday after spending a week camping and exploring in the Big Horn Basin. John and Stephanie and Paul and Brenda had arrived earlier to take in the area attractions. Everyone else was in camp by Thursday for registration.
After registration Gwynn and I made the 23 mile cruise in the Jeep into Deadwood to take in a little local “flavor”! Good time! We even ran into Wild Bill Hickok, spinning stories, at Saloon #10!
On Friday, the first trail day, John, Marlon, Dewey, and Paul signed up to run Hal Johns, an old Club favorite. George and I came down with a case of “Stupid” and signed up to run their newest 5+++ rated “Trail”, Captain Crunch! Not to be confused with the other section of trail with the same name but only rated a 4. Huge difference! This one is otherwise known as “Let’s follow Jason Paule in his 4 wheel steer comp buggy on “HIS” turf! In Jeeps! Game on! Per the rules, Jason has final say on who goes on this run. I’ve been on several of these runs with Jason in the past, I knew what was coming! The last one, in 2000, was an all-nighter. We got back to camp at 5:00 AM.
Captain Crunch is a ¼ of a mile long, total. We had 9 rigs. 4 hours into it we still had 3 rigs waiting to enter the trail! 6 hours into it the lead rigs had gone 150 yards! It boiled my power steering fluid (synthetic!). It cooked my transmission (Also synthetic fluid!) to the point of near failure (too much converter for that kind of stuff). It put dents and scrapes where there weren’t any before. It bent my friggin’ HOOD LATCH! It wadded up my Anti-Rock and BENT the heims! And those are just the things I know about! Among the other “Participants” it was just as bad or worse. Several broken Dana 60 axles, failed steering systems and a whole host of other assorted bent, broken, beat, mangled and generally FUBAR’d parts. Flops were fairly common. The carnage gods had a good day! I’ve ran scarier trails and I’ve ran steeper trails but I’ve never ran a trail as technically demanding as Captain Crunch. I’ve never made so many front and rear digs on one trail, ever! It’s a total stress test for man and machine!
On the second day our alarm failed to go off and we didn’t have time to get ready to run. As luck would have it, ours not their’s, Marlon had engine trouble in his Jeep and also couldn’t run that day. Christina rented a Grand Cherokee in Rapid City and the 4 of us went to the Crazy Horse Memorial and to Mt. Rushmore. We had a great day and didn’t break a dang thing!
On day 3, with a new battery in the alarm clock, we were up and ready to rock! I know, I know, It’s hard to believe! We signed up to run the Flat Nasty Trail. It turned out to be more “Flat” than “Nasty”! Captain Crunch is a tough act to follow!
Dakota Territory Challenge ‘08 was a great time and lived up to it’s hardcore heritage. RC4W members got split up running different trails but we were there as a club and that’s what it’s all about. With a large number of trails, only 3 days to run them, and a registration system that assigns the sign up order, it’s hard to get the whole Club on the same page. But, in camp is a different story. Every night there was something going on in camp and we were all together. Thursday night was a driver’s meeting. Friday night was door prize night and group campfire. Saturday night was the BBQ dinner and another group campfire. Sunday night was raffle night and lie to each other around the campfire!
RC4W has chalked up yet another great road trip and put more memories in the bank. Soooo, now what?………
The rocks will soon be covered with snow,
This much we know
The ponies are getting restless,
They know their time is near,
To get out and play with no fear
When the weather is no longer fair,
And the snow reaches our armpit hair,
Horsepower begins to fill the air
So, bring on your toys,
Boys,
And let’s go make some noise
Happy Trails,
Rod
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